Geslaagd!

Last week I noticed something strange in my neighborhood – flagpoles with backpacks hanging. “What could this mean?” – I wondered, and of course I asked my Dutchie.

World Cup 2014

World Cup fever has gained a lot of momentum since the Dutch team won last Friday. The World Cup 2014 also known as WK is hosted in Brazil this year, and Spain was the first opposing team that the Netherlands faced. Everyone was rushing to get home or to the nearest bar to watch the game, […]

Herdenkingsdag (Remembrance Day)

The word “herdenkingsdag”  literally translates to “memorial day”, and this day is on May 4; it honors and commemorates those who died during WWII and also subsequent conflicts. Given the fact I’m from the US, it was fascinating to see the contrast between the impact WWII had on the Netherlands. The US was mainly not involved […]

Bloemencorso (Flower parade)

The Netherlands is famous for their flower bulbs and Spring is the best time to see them! I went to Haarlem, about 30-45 minutes away from Amsterdam via train, to see a bloemencorso (flower parade); most of the floats were made from hyacinths and tulips. For more information, check out these links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloemencorso http://bloemencorso-bollenstreek.nl/nl/

My 1st Dutch power failure (stroomstoring)

Power failure disrupts Amsterdam-Zuid, trains cancelled – See more at: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2014/04/power_failure_disrupts_amsterd.php#sthash.aKBJ5bKr.dpuf Yesterday afternoon a power failure affected parts of Amsterdam Zuid and Diemen, and I experienced my first Dutch blackout. It was another fascinating illustration of Dutch efficiency…

Koningsdag (King’s Day)

Today was my (and many other people’s) first Koningsdag, and it was pretty amazing! Koningsdag which translates to King’s Day is a national Dutch holiday, and is basically a celebration of King Willem-Alexander’s birthday. There is a fascinating history behind it and you can read more about on Wikipedia. So how do the Dutch celebrate […]

Sint Maarten

November 11 is the feast day of Saint Martin, and the Dutch celebrate it by having small children (up to 11 years old) go around the neighborhood singing songs for candy. It is very similar to Halloween (minus the costumes). Today was my first Sint Maarten and I had purchased a ton of candy in […]